Showing papers in "Critical Studies in Education in 2016"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the ways in which three alternative education sites in Australia support socially just education for their students and how injustice is addressed within these schools, and highlight issues of affective justice raised by students in relation to their educational journeys.
Abstract: This article considers the ways in which three alternative education sites in Australia support socially just education for their students and how injustice is addressed within these schools. The article begins with recognition of the importance of Nancy Fraser’s work to understandings of social justice. It then goes on to argue that her framework is insufficient for understanding the particularly complex set of injustices that are faced by many highly marginalised young people who have rejected or been rejected by mainstream education systems. We argue here for the need to consider the importance of ‘affective’ and ‘contributive’ aspects of justice in schools. Using interview data from the alternative schools, we highlight issues of affective justice raised by students in relation to their educational journeys, as well as foregrounding teachers’ affective work in schools. We also consider curricular choices and pedagogical practices in respect of matters of contributive justice. Our contention is that the affective and contributive fields are central to the achievement of social justice for the young people attending these sites. Whilst mainstream schools are not the focus of this article, we suggest that the lessons here have salience for all forms of schooling.
64 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on two priorities: Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and employ interest convergence theory as a...
Abstract: National curriculum development is a complex and contested process. By its very function, a national curriculum serves to organise diverse interests into a common framework, a task fraught with cultural and political tensions and compromises. In the emergent Australian Curriculum these tensions are manifest in and around the cross-curriculum priorities (CCPs): sustainability, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. These priorities have been under fire since their introduction to the curriculum and the announcement of a review of the emerging curriculum prompted fears of a renewed attack. Studies from diverse fields of education research suggest that a lack of high-level institutional support for initiatives such as the CCPs places them in jeopardy. This paper focuses on two priorities: Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. It employs interest convergence theory as a ...
59 citations
TL;DR: In this article, student assessment is discussed as part of the technologies that increasingly govern academics and their work in universities and the reasons for this will be questioned and analysed in relation to a neoliberal mode of government where power relations shaping academic subjectivities are diffuse and pervasive.
Abstract: Neoliberal higher education reforms in relation to quality assurance, managerialist practices, accountability and performativity are receiving increasing attention and criticism. In this article, I will address student assessment as part of the technologies that increasingly govern academics and their work in universities. I will draw on Foucault’s theories of governmentality and subjectification, and discourse analysis that have framed the research conducted with 16 academics in one university in the UK. While academics in the study expressed frustration with neoliberal reforms in general, and assessment policies in particular, they tended not to demonstrate overt resistance within their university systems. The reasons for this will be questioned and analysed in relation to a neoliberal mode of government where power relations shaping academic subjectivities are diffuse and pervasive. I will discuss the ways in which academics understand and act within these power relations, and I will also demonstrate a...
53 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the idea of "failure" of young black males with respect to schooling and explored how young black men, despite negative school experiences, see possibilities for their future and how they seek to transform school 'failure' into personal and educational success.
Abstract: This article addresses the idea of ‘failure’ of young black males with respect to schooling. Perceptions of black masculinity are often linked to ‘underperformance’ in the context of school academic achievement. This article addresses how young black men, by great personal effort, recover from school ‘failure’. It explores how young black men, despite negative school experiences, see possibilities for their future and how they seek to transform school ‘failure’ into personal and educational ‘success’. Low attainment combined with permanent/temporary exclusion from school does not necessarily deter young black men from pursuing their education. This low attainment is used by some to make a renewed attempt at educational progression in a different post-school learning environment. Yosso’s concept of ‘community cultural wealth’ provides an understanding of how different forms of capital are accessed by young black men to form a ‘turnaround narrative’. This article considers the complex ways in which young bl...
30 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an ecological view of teacher learning as a ground-up approach to improving practice is presented, which brings together an intersubjective conception of professional learning that positions teachers as co-leaders, principles inherent in "the spirit of AfL" and the notion of intelligent accountability.
Abstract: Neoliberal policy objectives perpetuate an audit culture at both school and system levels. The associated focus on performativity and accountability can result in reductive and procedural interpretations of classroom assessment for learning (AfL) practices. Set in a New Zealand AfL professional development context, this research takes an ecological view of teacher learning as a ground-up approach to improving practice. As a framework, this paper brings together an intersubjective conception of professional learning that positions teachers as co-leaders, principles inherent in ‘the spirit of AfL’, and the notion of ‘intelligent accountability’ to illustrate evidence-informed teacher agency. It applies divergent and dialogic AfL practices to professional learning that can enable teachers to connect with issues that are most relevant to their practice. Dialogic feedback practices of this nature position teachers as capable, reflexive and resourceful practitioners and decision-makers.
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a "Neoliberal" version of CBT is described and analysed in the context of Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) in which a division of curriculum labour is instituted that, from the perspective of Neoliberal theory, allows the interests of educators to be limited in accordance with the belief that they will neglect the interests if they have control over the whole curriculum construction process.
Abstract: Competency-based training (CBT) is a curriculum model employed in educational sectors, professions and industries around the world. A significant feature of the model is its permeability to control by interests outside education. In this article, a ‘Neoliberal’ version of CBT is described and analysed in the context of Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET). In this version of the model, a division of curriculum labour is instituted that, from the perspective of Neoliberal theory, allows the interests of educators to be limited in accordance with the belief that they will neglect the interests of students and other stakeholders if they have control over the whole curriculum construction process. But this version of CBT denigrates the expertise of educators by forcing them to set aside their own judgement about what is important to teach and implement a pre-existing picture of an occupation that may or may not be an effective representation. Empirical evidence is reviewed that suggests curricul...
26 citations
TL;DR: The authors apply critical discourse analysis to a corpus of texts, exposing how colonial practices, deficit discourse, and discursive neoliberalism are embedded and perpetuated though entrepreneurial education targeted at Aboriginal students via AYEP.
Abstract: Globally, neoliberal education policy touts youth entrepreneurship education as a solution for staggering youth unemployment, a means to bolster economically depressed regions, and solution to the ill-defined changing marketplace. Many jurisdictions have emphasized a need for K-12 entrepreneurial education for the general population, and targeted to youth labeled 'at risk'. The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative's Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program (AYEP) has been enacted across Canada. This paper applies critical discourse analysis to a corpus of texts, exposing how colonial practices, deficit discourse, and discursive neoliberalism are embedded and perpetuated though entrepreneurial education targeted at Aboriginal students via AYEP.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that critical studies of meritocracy need to go beyond an understanding of the term as an inherently unstable concept instantiated problematically in policy and practice, and that the dynamics of meritocratic needs to be appreciated as an ideology that is negotiated by dominant social groups as these seek to legitimize particular distributions of social resources.
Abstract: In this article I first discuss how in Singapore the concept of meritocracy captures both elitist and egalitarian aspirations, and the ways in which its education policies have for a long time vacillated between these conflicting dimensions. I then argue that critical studies of meritocracy need to go beyond an understanding of the term as an inherently unstable concept instantiated problematically in policy and practice. Rather, as I develop the argument further, the dynamics of meritocracy needs to be appreciated as an ideology that is negotiated by dominant social groups as these seek to legitimize particular distributions of social resources. Such dominant ideologies, however, are not only produced in the education system; they are also reproduced through it, often in far more complex ways. To see how these ideologies and their tensions animate the very mechanism that sits at the centre of the reproduction of (in)equality, viz. the curriculum, the rest of the article provides an account of how one par...
19 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed a conceptual framework for examining the re-calibration and contagion of habits in education spaces, based on the premise that education spaces are key sites for channelling and intervening in children's habits, to various ends.
Abstract: This article develops a novel conceptual framework for examining the (re)formulation of habits in education spaces. It is based on the premise that education spaces are key sites for channelling and intervening in children’s habits, to various ends. The article focuses on the ways educators at alternative education spaces in the United Kingdom seek to (re)formulate children’s habits. In some cases, they do so to combat social exclusion, dealing with some of the most vulnerable children in the UK’s educational system. Drawing on the habit-theories of Ravaisson and Dewey, and commensurate post-human, more-than-social approaches to childhood, the article proposes a two-fold conceptualisation of habit: as ‘(re)calibration’ and as ‘contagion’. The article draws on empirical examples taken from 10 years’ research across 59 alternative education spaces in the United Kingdom. Developing recent educational scholarship on bodies, emotions and affects, it develops an expanded, post-human notion of ‘collective’ habit...
19 citations
TL;DR: In some jurisdictions, a common aim of alternative education programs is to return students to "regular schools" as discussed by the authors, where they provide a permanent alternative route to further education, work or training.
Abstract: Alternative educational programmes and alternative schools have been a feature of the educational landscape for some 50 years or more. These alternatives cater for children and young people who have generally experienced a variety of forms of exclusion during their schooling (Arnold, Yeomans, & Simpson, 2009; Sparkes & Glennerster, 2002). In some jurisdictions, a common aim of alternative education programmes is to return students to ‘regular schools’ (Slee, 2011). However, research suggests that young people who go back into regular schools from alternative programmes and short-term placements find it difficult, as nothing within the regular school has changed since they first left (Carswell, Hanlon, Watts, & O’Grady, 2014; Cox, 1999). Thus, alternative schools often aim to provide a permanent alternative route to further education, work or training. In so doing, they provide a convenient way for schools to continue unchanged, engaging in a range of exclusionary practices (Araujo, 2005; Mills, Riddell, & Hjorne, 2015). Whether young people return to regular school or continue with an alternative education programme, the regular school remains a critical social justice problem.
18 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that prevailing representations of parents in terms of responsibility and risk are a product of the dominance of psychological conceptualisations of bullying as individual pathological behaviour which stems from child development problems associated with poor parenting.
Abstract: Public discourse about school bullying is frequently underscored by debates about the relative roles and responsibilities of parents and schools in preventing bullying. Such debates are often characterised by a sense of recrimination, with blame apportioned according to perceived negligence. In this article, I provide a critique of ways in which parents have been represented in school bullying research, and consider how these representations inform public discourse about parents in relation to bullying. I argue that prevailing representations of parents in terms of responsibility and risk are a product of the dominance of psychological conceptualisations of bullying as individual pathological behaviour which stems from child development problems associated with poor parenting. As I show, this is but one of a number of ways in which bullying has been conceptualised in the research literature and provides a limited view of parents in relation to a complex social and cultural problem. I suggest that post-str...
TL;DR: This paper examined the interface between ethnicity and nationality in a nationalized educational site (the annual school trip) that took place in a Jewish high school in Israel that serves underprivileged ethnic groups.
Abstract: This study examines the interface between ethnicity and nationality in a nationalized educational site – the annual school trip – that took place in a Jewish high school in Israel that serves underprivileged ethnic groups. Based on ethnographic field work, I analyze how the Ashkenazi (central-eastern European origin) hegemonic national culture that is embedded in the field trip is worked out by the Mizrahi (Asian and north African origin) students, in light of their ethnic background and the ethnic Ashkenazi/Mizrahi division that characterizes the Israeli society. Although both groups share the same national sentiment, the analysis exposes the different ways the pedagogical practices used by the trip represented the national hegemonic culture and the ways it has been contested and reshaped along ethnic lines while reflecting the existing ethnic borders that the pupils were trying to widen.
TL;DR: The Responsive Classroom (RC) program as mentioned in this paper is a social/emotional learning program used ubiquitously in elementary schools for teacher and student training, in the US as well as in Australia, the UK, and other parts of Western Europe.
Abstract: This paper looks critically at the Responsive Classroom (RC) program, a social/emotional learning program used ubiquitously in elementary schools for teacher and student training, in the US as well as in Australia, the UK, and other parts of Western Europe. The paper examines empirical studies on RC’s efficacy and outcomes, many of which were conducted under the aegis of a single developmental psychology lab and in US schools. The paper critiques the faulty and potentially dangerous assumptions behind these studies, many of which adhere to obsolete ideals about developmentalism and perpetuate a harmful hegemonic positivity. The paper then examines the language and materials published by RC on its Web site, with an eye toward understanding precisely what the curriculum of RC is and what are its potential shortfalls for students and teachers. Finally, the author argues for an incorporation of theory from psychoanalysis and curriculum theory, as well as philosophical critiques of neoliberalism, for evolving ...
TL;DR: The authors describes how teachers' work and the structural elements of alternative schools support school-based innovation, and describes how alternative schools are made possible by loosely coupled with the rest of the public education system, but they still must comply with school system regulations.
Abstract: Toronto boasts a large and diverse system of public alternative schools: schools where democratic practices, student access and a commitment to public education are fundamental. There are academic schools; schools with thematically focused curricula; schools driven by social movement principles such as antiracism and global education; schools for students who do not thrive in mainstream schools; and schools with alternative scheduling and delivery practices for students who must work. The schools are small, supporting personalized relationships among teachers and students, with teacher-driven curricular programs that are responsive to student interests. Curricular innovation is made possible because alternative schools are only loosely coupled with the rest of the public education system, but they still must comply with school system regulations. This paper describes how teachers’ work and the structural elements of alternative schools support school-based innovation.
TL;DR: The authors found that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with schoolwork and teacher conflict, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school.
Abstract: Students with disruptive behaviour in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) are increasingly being educated in separate ‘behaviour’ schools. There is however surprisingly little research on how students view these settings, or indeed the mainstream schools from which they were excluded. To better understand excluded students’ current and past educational experiences, we interviewed 33 boys, aged between 9 and 16 years of age, who were enrolled in separate special schools for students with disruptive behaviour. Analyses reveal that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with schoolwork and teacher conflict. Interestingly, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school. It is therefore clear that separate special educational settings are not a solution to disruptive behaviour in mainstream schools. Whilst these settings do fulfil a function for some students, the preferences ...
TL;DR: This article focused on the schooling stories of two young women who moved from mainstream schooling into alternative learning program set up for Indigenous students and back into mainstream schooling to complete their Year 12 education.
Abstract: This paper focusses on the schooling stories of two young women who moved from mainstream schooling into alternative learning program set up for Indigenous students and back into mainstream schooling to complete their Year 12 education. The manner in which these young women narrated their stories is understood through the prism of Indigenous notions of relatedness and affect theory and is as revealing as the actual reporting of the events and rationales in these young women’s schooling trajectories. Young people’s insights into the challenges of mainstream pedagogies and promises of relational pedagogies invite us to consider what could be different in structures and processes which aim to deliver educational equity. We argue there is a need for more research which offers rich accounts of the emotional and relational fields which underpin student subjectivities and engagement.
TL;DR: The authors conducted a study on the nature of parent-school engagement at an academically selective public high school in New South Wales, Australia, and found that while parents were making significant efforts to involve themselves in the education of their children and with the school more broadly, the reasons for their involvement were not always consistent.
Abstract: This article reports the findings of a study on the nature of parent–school engagement at an academically selective public high school in New South Wales, Australia. Such research is pertinent given recent policies of ‘choice’ and decentralization, making a study of local stakeholders timely. The research comprised a set of interviews with parents and teachers (n = 15), through which parents – all members of the school’s Parents’ and Citizens’ group – theorized and explained their involvement with the school, and teachers spoke about their views on this involvement. Results are organized around three themes: ‘how parents worked to nurture their children’s schooling’, ‘reasons behind parents’ involvement with the school’, and ‘communication and use of parental resources by the school’. Overall it was found that while parents were making significant efforts to involve themselves in the education of their children and with the school more broadly, the reasons for their involvement were not always consistent,...
TL;DR: The authors traces the assembly of national and international agents from industry, business and special interest groups around the concept of knowledge economy, examining how the construction of an economic problem is brought to bear on the demand for educational change, and how this construction of the problem is used to shape public opinion.
Abstract: Educational change in the neoliberal state is permeated by the effects of forces from outside the field of education itself. The process of governmentality welcomes, indeed demands, the participation of those non-state actors valorised by neoliberalism as well as government agencies dedicated to the advancement of such groups. Inevitably, the concerns of such organisations become central to how the state sees education. This article traces the assembly of national and international agents from industry, business and special interest groups around the concept of ‘knowledge economy’. It treats this assemblage as an apparatus (dispositif), examining how the construction of an economic problem is brought to bear on the demand for educational change, and how this construction of the problem is used to shape public opinion in order to prepare the public for a radical change of direction. Confining itself to the reform of mathematics education introduced in the Republic of Ireland in 2010, this article traces th...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on how values are deployed in reculturing and regulating practitioners to develop identities and work orientations which are congruent with the policymakers' agendas.
Abstract: The imperative of continuous improvement has now become normative in education policy discourse, typically framed as setting ‘aspirational’ targets for pupil performance as a prerequisite for gaining competitive advantage in the global economy. In this context, teachers, leaders, teacher assistants and other practitioners working in schools across England have been under increasing pressure to raise standards. This article focuses on how values are deployed in reculturing and regulating practitioners to develop identities and work orientations which are congruent with the policymakers’ agendas. G.H. Mead’s concept of ‘cult’ values illuminates the process of fostering homogeneity with the dominant policy discourse through an inclusion/exclusion dynamic. Interview data collected in two primary schools revealed a significant convergence of practitioner discourse with policy objectives. Delivering improvement affects how practitioners talk about their work and see themselves as educators. The ‘cult’ of continuous improvement appears to inhibit a critical approach to the implementation of education policies by school practitioners in their everyday work.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on how students, who had returned to a selected upper secondary school after having quit in one or more other schools, benefited from an innovative pedagogical approach used in the school.
Abstract: Dropout from upper secondary education in Iceland is higher than in the neighboring countries, but varied options to re-enter school have also been on offer. This article focuses on how students, who had returned to a selected upper secondary school after having quit in one or more other schools, benefited from an innovative pedagogical approach used in the school. The article draws upon interviews, in which the interviewees expressed their pleasure with the school, reporting three main assets of its pedagogy: firstly, a supportive school ethos and student–teacher relationships expressed by the ways in which teachers worked, and also in teachers’ views towards students; secondly, an online learning platform, used by all teachers, which the students could use to structure their studies; and thirdly, the use of formative assessment and no final end-of-term examinations. This pedagogy comprises a whole school approach, and the article concludes that such a school culture and practice enables teenagers and yo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the views and experiences of 14 young women in the English Midlands, who became pregnant while still of statutory school age, 12 of whom spent time in alternative educational settings.
Abstract: Pregnant and mothering schoolgirls have been identified as an educationally vulnerable group. Many are not welcomed in their mainstream schools and as a consequence, access a range of educational alternatives. This article presents the views and experiences of 14 young women in the English Midlands, who became pregnant while still of statutory school age, 12 of whom spent time in alternative educational settings. It is based on data gathered from repeat interviews over an 18-month period and shows that all who attended the educational alternatives rated them highly and benefitted from what they had to offer. Using the concept of ‘difference’ as a central analytic theme, the article examines how and why this was the case. The analysis shows that it was through recognising some differences but not others that the educational alternatives were successful in supporting young women’s learning and well-being. Importantly, those that were recognised were done so in non-stigmatising ways. The research also highli...
TL;DR: The authors identify three types of disciplinary regimes at work in schools: dominant performative reward and punishment, team building and therapeutic, and argue that while all three regimes aim to steer identified students back to the norm, the two complementary approaches that we saw avoided the narrow instrumental behaviourist approaches of the dominant pattern.
Abstract: In schools, the notion of ‘care is often synonymous with welfare and disciplinary regimes. Drawing on Foucault, and a study of alternative education across the UK, and looking in depth at two cases of complementary alternative education, we identify three types of disciplinary regimes at work in schools: (1) dominant performative reward and punishment, (2) team building and (3) therapeutic. We argue that while all three regimes aim to steer identified students back to the norm, the two complementary approaches that we saw avoided the narrow instrumental behaviourist approaches of the dominant pattern. In so doing, they also opened up wider horizons of possibility and ways to be and become.
TL;DR: The authors used a Bakhtinian framework to analyse the teacher trainers' ideological environments and their hybridization of critical literacy discourses for their own contexts in an outside-of-country teacher training programme funded by an Australian government grant.
Abstract: Teacher training for developing nation contexts is often conducted in short, intensive inside and outside-of-country programmes. Concerns have been raised in relation to the uncritical take-up of the western-centric material provided by these programmes, which are usually funded by national and international government organizations. This paper explores an approach used in an outside-of-country teacher training programme funded by an Australian government grant. The research focused on teacher trainers from the Monastic education system and their reflections on whether critical literacy approaches could be incorporated into curriculum in Myanmar. It used a Bakhtinian framework to analyse the teacher trainers’ ideological environments and their hybridizations of critical literacy discourses for their own contexts. It was found that while the teacher trainers were passionate about the worth of developing critical literacy skills for their teachers and pupils, they struggled with a range of constraints that ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between news media and political education within consumer society and argue that political education today needs to be understood as part of consumerism and media culture, in which individuals selectively expose themselves to and scrutinize various media representations not only of political issues, but also of political subjectivity and action.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between news media and political education within consumer society. We argue that political education today needs to be understood as part of consumerism and media culture, in which individuals selectively expose themselves to and scrutinize various media representations not only of political issues, but also of political subjectivity and action. Individuals learn about how they might become political and act politically through their engagements with the news, in the context of the characteristics of liquid modernity, namely consumer culture, individualization, and choice. When examined through a lens of public pedagogy, political education becomes intertwined with consumer culture and the role of media in the education and socialization of political subjectivity. In this paper, we look at one example of the relationship between news and the education of political subjectivity by drawing from a larger research study, which examined the role of main...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate how the discourse on national identity is approached in the new Taiwanese citizenship curriculum, which follows a strategy of "intentional ambiguity" where neither identity is mentioned.
Abstract: This article aims to investigate how the discourse on national identity is approached in the new Taiwanese citizenship curriculum. The differing opinions on Taiwan’s relationship with China and the constant threat from this rising superpower have deterred the explicit promotion of either a Taiwanese or Chinese identity. The new curriculum follows a strategy of ‘intentional ambiguity’, where neither identity is mentioned. In this ‘polysemous’ form, the curriculum has been criticized for staying silent on the question of cultivating a national identity. However, the curriculum developers interviewed for this paper suggested that parents and pupils who examine the new curriculum can find support for whichever national identity they favor since it is designed in such an inclusive manner. They can then simultaneously reflect on the multiple, divergent or competing meanings behind the ‘polysemous texts’ and this ‘hermeneutic’ process of reasoning can then facilitate the choice of national identity with maximum ...
TL;DR: In this article, a dialectical analysis of the relationship between higher education institutions and the world of work is used to parse out the nuances of this relation, where the skills and education obtained in one’s college experiences are not utilized in one's occupation.
Abstract: Despite the world slowly recovering from the 2008 recession and reducing levels of unemployment, the problem of underemployment persists. Underemployment is a problematic work status determined by an array of factors, including hours worked, comparative wages, and various subjective elements. This particular employment condition is affecting a great number of college graduates, specifically in the realms of subjective underemployment where the skills and education obtained in one’s college experiences are not utilized in one’s occupation. In this way, college graduate underemployment (CGU) is the product of a dialectical interplay between higher education institutions and the world of work. A Marxist analysis is utilized here to parse out the nuances of this relation. Marx’s original examination of capitalism illustrates how the forces of capital manipulate labor power as a commodity. Capitalist manipulation, coupled with technological dynamism and automation, gradually appropriate skills from the worker ...
TL;DR: The roll-out of national testing in Australia, and the subsequent yearly discussions of educational achievements, has contributed to reigniting concerns regarding the presence and effects of race in education as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: ‘Consider, for example, educators’ and educational researchers’ concerns with assimilation, civilization, vocational training, IQ, poverty, cultural difference, remedial education, school readiness, achievement gaps, accountability, and standardization – all of these conversations were and still are intimately connected to race and racism regardless of whether we name them as such’ (Brayboy, Castagno, & Maughan, 2007, p. 159). The roll-out of national testing in Australia, and the subsequent yearly discussions of educational achievements, has contributed to reigniting concerns regarding the presence and effects of race in education. In part, this is because comparisons based on the results of these tests, for example, between Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian students (Ford, 2013), or LBOTE (language background other than English) and non-LBOTE students (Creagh, 2014), invite critique regarding the pervasive and pernicious ongoing impact of racism on the engagement and experiences of learners in schools (Lingard, Creagh, & Vass, 2012; Sarra, 2011; Walton, Priest, & Paradies, 2013). The growing impact and pressure associated with standardised and often ‘high-stakes’ testing, coupled with heightened concern about race and racism in education, is also a significant issue in settings such as the USA and UK, as indicated in the quote that opens this editorial.